Purposefully crafting #opportunitymakers

Tag Archives: ABSA

“I’ve always been a Greenie Beanie (known colloquially as someone who is environmentally conscious) so it frustrated me when the illegal dumping site in Orange Farm, where I live, was growing out of control. Illegal dumping is widespread in most townships but so is the lack of productive space for things like playgrounds for kids, food security programmes and just beautiful spaces where residents can have picnics or informal social events. I have made it my life’s work to create these spaces and to begin in my home town.”

This is the story of Jabulani Dlamini, a community leader from Orange Farm and now learner on our Out of School Youth programme offered in Orange Farm by facilitator, Lawrence Tlhapane.

Jabulani’s relationship with JA South Africa spans about 20 years. He has always been an advocate for our programmes. Back in the late 1990s, after himself attending one of our programmes, years earlier, he recommended the JA South Africa Primary School programmes to other schools in Orange Farm which resulted in us offering the JA More than Money programme to schools in Orange Farm. In 2013, Jabulani once again advocated for our programmes and assisted our facilitators to mobilise out of work, out of school youth in Orange Farm to participate in the 20-week programme. As a result, 68 learners have been exposed to our experiential entrepreneurial skills development programme (36 are attending the programme currently running in Orange Farm).

Jabulani has always been a very community-minded individual so, when he came across a group of young primary school learners being housed for an aftercare programme in an icy community center during winter, he felt it his duty to find a solution to obtaining better resources for the programme. “They were doing amazing work at the Havho Mutshila Community Centre, but how can a learner concentrate or stay healthy in such terrible conditions?” Jabulani goes on to say; “I then met with centre manager, Benjamin Nkosiand the two of us, together with eight other concerned community members, registered a co-operative called Sidingulwazi (seeking knowledge in IsiZulu). Together we set out to address a number of community challenges: The lack of resources for the aftercare programme that served such a critical need in the community; addressing the matter of illegal dumping in Orange Farm; teaching the co-operative members and the community at large the value of recycling; earning an income for ourselves and providing a source of income for unemployed community members.”

Sidingulwazi opened its doors on spring day of 2014 – an apt day to launch a waste management business. Together with Pik It Up, the team spent a week rolling out a cleaning campaign where 120 community members were taught the value of waste by exposing them to recycling. Government’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) was also introduced to the community during this campaign. During the campaign the Co-operative made a profit of R5,000, which was invested into upgrades of the community centre ahead of the winter months.

The community’s cleaning campaign resulted in four dumping sites being cleared of waste. Two community groups representing about 30 families have adopted two of the open spaces and are using it as sustenance farms where onions, tomatoes, green beans, and carrots are being farmed to feed these 30 families. The third space is being used as a children’s recreational space where, in partnership with City Parks, the installation of play equipment and maintenance is an ongoing project. 150 community members, in partnership with Pik It Up, run a food waste programme at the fourth open space. Pik It Up donated tools, protective uniforms and Occupational Health and Safety training programmes to 10 team members to ensure the success of the programme.

It is clear that Jabulani is a beacon of success in Orange Farm and uses his network to benefit the community as a whole.

“The JA South programme has helped me develop my interpersonal skills in such a way that I am now more comfortable with delegating responsibilities to team members and as a result, we get more work done. The market research session was an eye opener for me. At start up, I thought I knew exactly what the market (my community) wanted because I was so invested in the needs of my community. However, the programme taught me to ask the right questions of my clients resulting in a better service offering to them.”

We will continue to follow Jabulani’s success and wish this exemplary entrepreneur well on his journey as an #OpportunityMaker.

Friday, 5 May 2015 saw the graduation of an impressive 100 young people from the JA South Africa Out of School ITS TYME. The programme, funded by Barclays, is a 20-session incubator style programme for out of school unemployed youth between the ages of 18 – 35 and is facilitated over three months. What is unique about the JA South Africa programme is the fact that students are required to start up and run a sustainable business during the programme. The programme includes site visits, case studies, guest speakers, and an introduction to micro finance as well as mentorship and support for a period after completion of the formally structured programme.

In Mamelodi, the programme was offered at Entokozweni Youth Development Centre and Stanza Bopape Skills Centre. Mamelodi, has an unofficial population of close to one million people (www.saweb.co.za). Moller (2008:16) indicates that the unemployment rate in Mamelodi is 63.6 per cent. So it was a fitting experience for the learners, who had never ventured into business before, to make substantial profit that will be paid to learners as dividends. “Its great to see the learners realise what they are able to achieve through the programme and especially when they are sharing the dividends at the end of the programme.” Says facilitator on the programme, Power Masemola.

Keynote speaker, Preston Sihlangu hands out certificates to learners

This is exactly why the now-resident of Pretoria, Preston Sihlangu musician and owner of a production company called Red Capet Music used the opportunity as keynote speaker at the certification ceremony to inspire the graduates of the programme; “Now that you have the business acumen necessary to make wise decisions, invest in your business and make mature decisions. The country needs a different kind of role model than what is currently available to the youth!” he went on to say to the 150-strong audience that gathered in celebration of this milestone.

“There is so much unemployment in Mamelodi and we need inspiration to continue to find alternative income. The JA South Africa programme is much needed and appreciated in Mamelodi” Godfrey Tswai, graduate of the programme was quoted as saying.

This programme was launched in 2012 and by end of 2015 JA South Africa will have run 65 such programmes that will reach an impressive total of 1534 out of school youth now having the skills to begin their own businesses and have the potential to become possibility seekers and creators of opportunities.

Other speakers on the day included representatives from University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi campus, NYDA and SEDA. Siya Mapoko, author of the book; The Best Advise I Ever Got generously donated a book to each of the learners. Together with a USB containing brochures and contact details of entrepreneurship incubator programmes, we are confident these learners will be successful in their future ventures.

What do you get when you combine a team of young potential entrepreneurs and the ingredients to make 20 litres of ginger beer? The introduction to the JA out of school youth enterprise development programme of course!

JA South Africa is always looking for ways to stimulate and motivate young people to launch their own small businesses and this is precisely why the ginger beer challenge is now included in the introductory session of the programme. In an effort to encourage programme participants to think entrepreneurially right from the beginning of the programme, students are divided into groups of five and are provided with the ingredients and a recipe to make 20L of ginger beer. Their challenge is to generate as much profit as possible through the sale of the ginger beer. Decisions as to who will make the ginger beer, where they will sell it, how to market it and the price are left completely up to the individual teams.

The Nalt company from the Ekurhuleni Business Centre programme funded by GE South Africa found their ginger beer to be so popular that they decided to continue with this business for the rest of the programme. After generating a net profit of R200 during the challenge, the group realised that there was a huge demand for their product as the traditional ginger beer made in African cultures is not available in retail stores. The team identified corporate office parks and taxi ranks as ideal points of sale and have doubled their profits. In an effort to ensure that their product is unique, the company is currently researching and testing individual family recipes for ginger beer to create their own unique, secret recipe.

The companies formed during a similar programme, called ITS TYME, at the Khaya Centre in Lehae, funded by Absa, all decided to continue selling their ginger beer. To ensure their competitive advantage, some teams have included products that complement the ginger beear flavour such as hot dogs, boerewors rolls and the like.

“This challenge is fantastic because it demands that the students pull together quickly. They only have a week in which to sell their ginger beer and the teamwork they need to display to complete the task is essential for the success of any potential entrepreneur” noted Joanne Bender, National Programmes Manager at JA South Africa.

Junior Achievement South Africa and Absa have joined forces to combat South Africa’s soaring youth unemployment figures by equipping young, aspiring entrepreneurs with the skills and experience needed to build sustainable, successful businesses.

JOHANNESBURG, APR 19, 2013 – Junior Achievement South Africa (JASA) launched their Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Young Marginalised Youth (ITS TYME) programme in January this year. Absa has generously committed to funding the ITS TYME programmes in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia – reaching 4,050 unemployed youth from across the African continent over three years.

The ITS TYME programme is an intensive three to four month programme during which students meet once or twice a week for three hours. ITS TYME is an incubator style entrepreneurship skills programme for out of school youth between the ages of 18 and 35 and is aimed at addressing the vast unemployment challenge facing young people in South Africa. The project also includes traditional workplace readiness skills, life skills, financial literacy and banking and saving.

All of JASA’s programmes involve real hands-on, experiential learning. Participants form small businesses, elect managers, complete market research to determine a product or service that will sell in their community, manufacture the product and finally share in the profits. In so doing, they learn how to start and run their own business in a practical way. The ITS TYME programme follows the same methodology, ensuring that students experience hands-on learning. “JASA’s 33 years’ of experience running experiential programmes in the in-school market have provided a strong foundation in entrepreneurial education from which to expand into the out of school market.” Noted Linda McClure, JASA’s Managing Director.

ITS TYME programmes are already underway in Eersterus, Ivory Park, Kagiso, Khutsong, Heidelburg, Soweto and Thokoza and programmes are also planned in Tembisa, Rustenburg and Duduza in the near future. Interest in the programme has been excellent in some areas, for example, in Khutsong there are already 45 students attending the programme and each week there are additional students wanting to join.

In total there are 17 ITS TYME programmes planned for the year, predominantly in Gauteng. Provision has also been made to run programmes in the Western Cape and North West Provinces. The programme intends to reach 600 unemployed youth this year and JASA has partnered with several youth organisations including Siyafunda CTC, Khulisa Social Services, National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Youth Making a Difference (YMAD), Seed Container Park (SECOPA) and the Kagiso Multipurpose Community Centre (MCC) to ensure that we reach this goal. These organisations are in regular contact with unemployed youth throughout the country and these partnerships will ensure that the ITS TYME programme reaches the youth that have the greatest need.

“Although the out of school market is a challenging market in which to work, the need for this programme most definitely outweighs the risk. Junior Achievement’s main purpose is to shape young entrepreneurs and to nurture entrepreneurial thinking, and we believe we are perfectly positioned to make a positive impact on the lives of unemployed youth in South Africa.” Concluded Linda McClure.